


Made

by unicornsandbutane



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Fandom
Genre: M/M, Mysticism, That's Not How The Force Works
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-02-01
Packaged: 2019-03-12 08:46:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13543818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unicornsandbutane/pseuds/unicornsandbutane
Summary: Some time after the disappointment on Crait, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren calls Hux into his throne room to make Hux an offer, and to tell him the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise.





	Made

Hux couldn't recall ever, in the entirety of his tenure within the Order, having gotten a comm from Kylo Ren. But, there it was, in the middle of third shift. The man had even signed it "-KR" as if the comm number indicating the origin of the message were not enough. It was very short, perhaps mercifully so, saying nothing but "throne room when you finish work", which Hux presumed to be a summons. In the back of his mind, he'd expected this-- that the new Supreme Leader would call upon him and force him to grovel before the throne. He'd thought it would come sooner. 

When the time came, he'd had a few standard hours to plan out what he'd say. How he'd convey his loyalty to the Order without embarrassing himself. How he'd avoid being thrown around like a doll as he had been of late. He straightened his cuffs, smoothed his hair, and stepped into the room.

/Supreme Leader/ Kylo Ren had not redecorated much. What had been Snoke's holochamber had been converted by the addition of an extremely minimal throne on the dais, but otherwise it was the same cavernous hall where he and Ren had stood, side-by-side and at odds, staring up at the ghastly visage of their Leader's holoprojection. Kylo Ren didn't make himself appear any larger or grander. He hadn't changed his attire. So really, the fact that he'd called Hux here was all about a statement being made, rather than the trappings thereof. Hux steeled himself. 

Ren looked up from his datapad. He lifted his eyebrows at Hux and asked,

"Have you ever heard the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise?" 

Hux faltered. That had not been what he was expecting. "Yes, I... I grew up as a child of the Empire. Of course the story of how Darth Vader came to us was told among the former officers."

"Hmm," Ren mused, and a slight smile hovered at the corners of his mouth. "How right that description is... and you don't even know it."

"I beg your pardon?" Hux felt as though he was being toyed with. He clenched his jaw. 

"You know 'The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise' as the story the Emperor told to Anakin Skywalker to tempt him to the Dark. You might know that Darth Plagueis was master to Darth Sidious, who in turn was master to Darth Vader. But, did you know that it was Darth Plagueis who influenced the Force so that Shmi Skywalker, a Tatooinian slave, would conceive one of the greatest Force users the galaxy has ever known?"

Hux squinted. "She was your great-grandmother, I presume?" 

"She was," Ren replied in his odd 'now you're catching on' voice. 

"Why are you telling me this?" Hux asked, and perhaps it was too bold, too foolish, to question the Supreme Leader, but he did hope that if Ren was going to make a point, that he'd come to it sooner rather than later. 

"When Snoke was alive, there was so much he kept from me. After I awakened, and he was dead, I felt it. He'd blocked so much of my power, so I would remain loyal to him. It proved to be his downfall. I couldn't stop the girl from killing him." He laced his fingers in front of his face, regarded Hux over the top of them. "But now, I feel everything. Where there was blankness before, I feel as though I could reach out and touch the individual strands that form the fabric of the universe."

Hux was growing annoyed. None of this answered his question.

"When Snoke was alive," Ren continued, "he kept us, you and I, in competition. He despised you, General. I know he would have eventually killed you, when he thought you no longer served a purpose. Whether that purpose was commanding the Order's armies, or simply serving to stoke the fires in my heart, push me to do better, if only to outstrip you. He'd set me up to fail, however, as I told you. He knew I'd always be competing for his approval."

"And now he's dead, and you've taken up his title," Hux said, wondering how long Ren planned to go on about this. 

"Yes. I have. And so, you and I don't have to compete anymore. He engineered our conflict, and I know how much you hate being manipulated."

Hux could feel his eye twitching, swallowed any smart comments he might have had about it not being that simple, how Ren couldn't erase five years of undercutting and animosity by pointing the finger at Snoke and saying 'he made me do it'. 

"Ah, yes." Ren said, standing from his throne and stepping down from the dais. "There it is. So much anger, so much passion. I wish you could see your mind the way I do, Hux. You would make an incredible Force-user, with your rage, and your control." 

It felt like a compliment. He couldn't remember ever having gotten a compliment from Kylo Ren, either. It was a day of firsts. He tried not to preen, but found himself standing straighter, all the same. 

"The Force exists between all living things, General Hux," Ren said, his voice low. Hux blinked in confusion. Ren was getting at something, and Hux felt like he was at a precipice, about to be pushed. "So it stands to reason... if Darth Plagueis was able to create Anakin Skywalker in the womb of a force-blind woman through mastery of the Force alone, why should not I be able to activate the Force in a person who already lives?" 

Hux felt a chill wash over him. The air rushed from his lungs. He waited for Ren to say something else, to refute what Hux thought, what he knew Ren was suggesting. Nothing came. Nothing but the deep amber stare daring Hux to accept or deny it.

"Darth Plagueis was betrayed by his apprentice," Hux whispered, finally. "As Sidious was betrayed by his." 

"And Darth Tyrannus was betrayed by his master. As I was betrayed by mine. I am not asking you to be my apprentice. I'm asking you to put aside all the conflict Snoke designed for us. I'm asking you to let the past die. I am asking you to join me." He put out his hand, reached across the desolate space toward Hux. "And I am giving you the choice."

Staring at Ren's gloved hand, Hux felt his own fingers twitch. 

"Join you, or die?" he asked, because he had to know what the other choice was. 

Ren shook his head. "Join me, or close the door on everything you could be. You're a very competent general, Armitage Hux. But I know you aspire to far greater heights."

"Why offer this to me? Do you simply need a body for your experiment?" Hux's feet felt numb in his boots. What if, he thought, what if he allowed himself to believe in Kylo Ren, and all of his mystical powers? What if he were able to wield those same powers, use them to further his goals for the Order? What was the catch?

"Snoke endeavored to separate us. He knew that together, we would prove too strong a force for him to match. The girl, too, is strong. Stronger than she knows even now, and her power will only grow. But in you, too, there is great potential. If you could only but fight alongside me, /nothing/ could stop us." 

He said it with such intensity, Hux could almost see it: himself, reaching out to that inexplicable energy, feeling the galaxy curling around his fingertips, the hum of a lightsaber in his hand. Ren, beside him, reaching out as well.

"Oh," Ren said, hushed. "You see it too." 

"How would you do it?" Hux asked, barely breathing. Ren peeled off his glove, reached for Hux again. 

"Remove your gloves. Take my hand," Ren offered. 

Hux did.

**Author's Note:**

> Ehhh so midichlorians have been retconned. Who said e needed internal consistency?


End file.
